


The Best Things Come In Small Packages

by audhds



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Babies, Baby Angels, Baby Castiel, Cute Castiel, Cute Kids, Domestic Dean Winchester, Domestic Sam Winchester, Fluff, Humor, Kid Balthazar, Kid Castiel, Kid Fic, Kid Gabriel, Kid Lucifer, Kid Michael, Snarky Gabriel, So much fluff...like vomworthy amounts!, Toddlers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-12
Updated: 2015-03-12
Packaged: 2018-03-17 11:34:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3527861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/audhds/pseuds/audhds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean is having a bad day when he finds an abandoned baby angel but none the less he takes it in and calls him Cas. Things get weirder when a kid called Gabriel appears in his and Sam's motel. Then Balthazar turns up...what the hell does Heaven think they are? The Winchester Nanny Company?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Best Things Come In Small Packages

Dean cursed every existing pagan god out there as he pulled his leather jacket tighter around his body.

The weather was definitely conspiring against him, it was freezing cold and it was no longer merely raining – it was like a friggin' monsoon with hail thrown in for good measure out here!

Dean was not impressed to say the least.

He had offered to do the supply run to get out of research, but now he thought that Sammy had gotten the best deal.

"Peachy!" Dean grumbled to himself as he trudged through puddles of murky water, his voice rendered almost entirely silent by loud claps of thunder.

It made Dean want to shoot something, or preferably, get inside and then shoot something.

He hurried along with the groceries and rounded yet another corner (and no, he had not bought Sam his requested lettuce, quinoa and sweet potatoes) when a car drive by and splashed him.

Great.

Five minutes away from their latest crappy motel, Dean heard a strange noise. It was a soft, chirping sound - almost bird like.

Some dumb sparrow had probably flown into some barbed wire due to the strong winds and part of Dean felt sorry for it – sorry enough to head down the alley where the noise was coming from in search of the distressed animal.

However, he did not find a fluttering bird.

The alley was completely empty other than a pile of rubbish and old cardboard boxes.

Dean sighed and turned, ready to walk away (hell, it was freezing and he'd tried – don't judge) when he heard the chirping sound again, accompanied by something that sounded like a human cough – but it couldn't have been, that was ridiculous.

However, he heard another cough and chirp and this time it was much closer to Dean, who realized with a jolt that it was coming from the pile of rubbish.

If the bird was lying trapped beneath the rubbish on the floor it was probably already dying or badly injured – but still…

Dean approached cautiously, lifting the bags and boxes one by one until he saw one of the boxes move a little.

Praying to god that it wasn't a rat, Dean reached forward and opened up the flaps of the box.

What he saw took him by surprise…it defiantly wasn't a rat…but it wasn't a bird either. It did have wings - but that was as far as the resemblance went.

Inside the box was a tiny humanoid figure, which didn't look dissimilar to a one year old baby, although it was the size of a newborn. The child-thing had milk white skin and a mop of messy black hair. Its eyes were so wide that they seemed to take up half of the things face, and they were a deep piercing blue that looked straight through Dean – he felt like he was being psychoanalyzed.

Dean had never seen anything like it – the thing's wings were fluffy and about two feet wide and its feathers were midnight black. The thing was also clearly male – there was nothing covering the creature, not even its genitals.

And that was another issue, the thing's skin was so pale that it was sickly looking – its toes, lips, fingers, ears and genitals had taken on a bluish-gray tinge and Dean wondered how long it had been left there.

The tiny thing renewed its efforts, wriggling more frantically than before, ruffling its feathers and reaching out for Dean. It let out a high pitch wail when Dean didn't respond to its calls and the baby began to pout – it's now blue lips were jutted out and quivering with tears.

"Up."

Shit, it spoke.

But Dean still didn't act or pick up the child like it clearly wanted him to.

"Up!"

Dean felt sorry for the little guy, he really did – but he didn't know what it was, or whether it was dangerous.

The first rule of a hunt was to know what you are dealing with.

But the tiny baby looked so fragile and weak, it had resumed its frantic chirping and tears were rolling down its cheeks. It was reaching out for Dean with shaking hands, as if it were asking for comfort. Every so often its tiny body was wracked by devastating coughs which caused the creature to cry and wail harder than ever.

Dean looked around for any other sign of life in the alley, but it was clear that the creature had been abandoned.

Just like you…a voice added in Dean's head. But that was ridiculous, Dean's parents had not abandoned him, they had died. And besides, he had Sammy now…this little thing seemingly had no one.

Dean was pulled from his thoughts when an ice cold hand reached out and grasped at his fingers, causing Dean to look down and see that the baby was wriggling and squirming whilst letting out more chirps of distress.

"Up! Up! Up!"

Dean could see the outline of each of its ribs and watched for a few moments as droplets of rain fell onto the milk white flesh.

And then he made his move.

He knew he couldn't just leave the baby here alone, monster or not, and having reached that conclusion, he pulled off his jacket and rested it over the trembling body before scooping up the box.

The thing's cries calmed a little, but the baby continued to flutter its sodden, matted wings in distress and eventually Dean gave in and took it out of the box. He then wrapped his jacket around its body tighter, being careful of the matted and sparsely-feathered wings before pulling it close to his chest.

This finally stopped the high-pitched crying and Dean knew he had made the right decision as the child cooed gratefully and clutched onto his shirt, letting out a low, grumbling purr.

"S'okay now, little man. I'll sort this out."

"Hug!"

Dean did as he was commanded and turned to leave the alley, but before he did he glanced at the discarded box.

It had 'Castle Delivery Service' emblazed across it in black ink.

"Castle…that's a dumb ass name, why don't we call you a Castiel for now, considering I don't know what you are?"

"Cas!"

The baby didn't protest and seemed to like his abbreviated name, so Dean carried on walking to the motel, swinging the door open to his room while muttering, "it's ok Cas, me and Sammy will look after you for now."

…SN…SN…SN…SN…SN…

"Hey Dean, what took you so long I've-" Sam cut himself off when he saw that Dean was cradling a bundle in his arms, wrapped up in his leather jacket. His brother was soaked through and shivering. To be truthful, he looked thoroughly miserable and was wearing a grim expression.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"Ugh, don't ask." Dean plopped down on the chair next to Sam and rested Castiel on the table in front of his little brother.

"Dean, what is that?" Sam could see the feathers peeking out from the leather and knew that his brother had somehow started a hunt (or something) whilst grocery shopping.

How hard was it to just do mundane things? It looked like Dean couldn't even go to the store without being interrupted.

"You're the one with the Stanford brains, it's research time Sammy."

"Couldn't you have found a stray kitten or puppy, or something normal?"

"Nah, they poop everywhere."

"True…"

Sam clicked open a new tab on his laptop as Dean ran a hand through his hair and watched helplessly as Castiel began coughing violently and writhing on the table.

And then, Cas began to cry – he was letting out loud high pitched wails as he bucked frantically and reached out for Dean.

"Jesus Dean, make it stop! How am I meant to research with that wailing in my ears?!"

"Look, I don't know how to shut it up."

"Pick it up or something."

"Dude, we have no idea what it is, what if the thing's dangerous."

"It hardly looks like it's gonna rip your head off."

"Neither do mermaids or sirens, they look like hot women but I wouldn't voluntarily go and hug one…well"

"Just give it a hug."

"HUG!"

Dean scowled and re-picked up Cas, rocking him softly like a child and running a finger along his icy cheeks. This settled Cas down a bit and the wails died down a little, but Cas still fisted Dean's shirt and cried quietly, shivering in Dean's arms.

"The little guy's freezing cold, I'm gonna go and give him a bath or something…maybe if he's warm he'll stop screaming the motel down."

Sam nodded absently, opening yet another website in yet another tab and simultaneously flicking through his dad's journal.

Dean took this as an 'okay' and headed to the bathroom, where he settled Cas down on the floor before stripping off his own wet clothes and quickly drying himself, pulling on his sweats and then a loose T-shirt. Then, he leant over the bathtub and poured a shallow warm bath.

Once he'd turned off the tap he unwrapped Cas and lowered him into the water.

Cas let out a frightened squeak, but after Dean gently stroked his back and began to straighten out Cas' feathers, massaging warm water in them, the tears stopped.

Dean wasn't sure whether he should use body wash or not, but in the end Cas' feathers were so grimy that he did, carefully rubbing his hands together until he had a lather of pomegranate-scented bubbles, which he gently massaged into the feathers. Damn Sammy and his friggin' girls shower products.

Cas began to purr at this, a deep rumbling noise that was practically cat-like. His whole body vibrated with the sound and he leant into Dean's touch and rubbed his head against Dean's arm.

This made Dean smirk a little, and he continued cleaning Cas' wings until eventually the water was running clear from his feathers.

He used the rest of the tiny bottle of body wash to clean up Cas' skinny wrists and legs, then his prominent ribs, stomach and then his tiny genitals. Cas tried to fight against this, kicking out his little legs until Dean gave up and cleaned between his dinky little toes instead.

Dean then began to massage shampoo into the creature's mess of black hair, but halfway through this Cas became restless and began to cry again, stuffing his hand in his mouth and chewing it with soft pink gums.

"You hungry little guy?"

"Food?'"

"Shall we get you something yummy then?" Dean asked softly, pulling Cas out of the bath and wrapping him in a fluffy towel before carrying him back to Sam. Dear god, he was turning into a soccer momma already.

"Hey, you found anything?"

"Kind of…"

"Well, have you or haven't you?"

"I have, but you're not gonna believe what I say."

"Try me."

"He's an angel."

"What?"

"An angel, it's the only thing that fits."

"There's no such thing. No God, no angels, no heaven and no hell. I thought you were more sensible than all that. Didn't I raise you to take facts into account, evidence, what you see is what you get! Don't tell me you pray and all that shit!"

"Actually I do pray, and there is plenty of lore on angels."

"Fine, lets say for a moment that I believe you…what the hell was an angel doing abandoned in a cardboard box down some dingy alley?"

"I don't know, maybe he fell from heaven or something?"

"Well that aint clichéd at all…what next, are ya gonna ask him if it hurt when he landed? Anyway, he's a baby…or fledgling, or whatever. He could hardly have sinned enough to be struck off from the clouds."

"Maybe his mother was banished and gave birth here."

"Why would an angel abandon its baby? That hardly seems like an angelic thing to do."

"Maybe that was the only way to protect it."

"Castiel."

"What?"

"I called it Cas."

"Okayyyyy…why Cas?"

"The box he was in said Castle Deliveries."

Sam was about to respond when Cas let out another sob and wriggled free from his towel, flapping his wings in agitation and chirping.

"Food!" Cas' voice was high and strangled and he looked up at Dean with wide blue eyes.

"Yeah, that's another point. If he is a baby angel, why does he speak English."

"Angels are omniscient, they know and see everything."

"Ok, papa don't preach."

Sam snorted at Dean's choice of musical reference and was about to comment on it when his older brother interrupted. "Did you find out what angels eat?"

"Apparently only young angels eat, adults don't have to. One website said fruit, another said flower petals and a third said honey and nectar."

"Right, let's try fruit first." Dean went over to the kitchenette and picked up a banana – it was over-ripe, but Dean peeled it anyway and placed the fruit in the angel's hands. Cas sniffed the banana before frowning an trying to pass it back.

Dean took the proffered fruit and broke off a mouth sized piece, gently pressing it to Cas' lips. Cas turned away and continued to let out hitching sobs.

"Right, it looks like I'm going shopping again. Keep an eye on him."

Dean got up and hurried out of the room, leaving Sam with the fledgling.

Sam scooped up the tiny baby and rocked him gingerly, trying to hush its cries before someone came and complained about the noise. The angel was now once again naked, so Sam pulled out one of his T-shirts and wrapped the angel up in it, cutting a hole for its wings and tying knots in the fabric to stop it from completely drowning the little guy.

"There we are, s'that better kiddo?"

Cas gave a small gurgle and reached out for Sam, grabbing at his huge hands with little pudgy ones and clinging on before trying to suckle on his fingertips.

Sam didn't have the heart to pull back, so settled down on the sofa with the baby angel on his chest, suckling on his index finger.

An angel.

The Winchesters had an angel tucked up in their motel room, and it was chewing on Sam with soft gums.

What a mess.

Talking of which, Cas had now tangled his fists in Sam's hair and was tugging it for attention, flapping his wings faster so that they kept beating against his forearm and chest.

Sam let out a sigh of relief when he heard the door banging open to reveal Dean with a bag full of different brands of honey and three bunches of flowers – roses, tulips and geraniums.

Sam snorted with laughter, which earned him a bitch face.

"Who you planning on wooing, Casanova?"

Dean glowered before sitting on the sofa next to Sam and plucking the petals from the plants. Both brothers sat and watched as Dean handed the angel the petals, but Cas didn't eat them, he just stared at them in confusion with his mouth open in a bemused expression.

And then the tears started again.

Dean took the angel off Sam and cradled it gently, shushing Cas gently and wiping away the tears.

"I swear, if he doesn't eat this honey, we're screwed. The poor little guy's gonna starve before long and I'm sure ganking an angel is a sin, unintentional or not."

Sam nodded and pulled out the most expensive looking bottle of honey, flipping open the cap and holding the bottle so that the nipple-like opening was pressed to Cas' now plump red lips.

Much too both brother's relief, Cas let out a chirp of delight and began suckling at the sweet liquid, guzzling the whole bottle without pulling away once.

"You sure were hungry little guy, when's the last time you ate, hey?" Dean rocked the fledgling and waited as Sam pulled out another different type of honey. The angel downed this as well and opened his mouth for more, suckling at thin air until Sam pressed a third bottle to his lips.

However, Cas frowned and pulled away from this type of honey – it was the cheapest of the lot and he clearly wasn't impressed.

Therefore, Sam placed this to the side and took a different bottle, which Cas proceeded to drink before falling fast asleep.

"Well, at least he isn't too picky, he ate three out of four."

"Dude, he liked the all the posh brands! This is gonna get expensive."

"He's an angel, he deserves the best."

Dean scowled and told Sam to make somewhere for the angel to sleep.

In the end, his younger brother pulled out the drawer from the motel clothes cabinet, filling it with one of the spare blankets, a dry fluffy towel and a relatively soft cushion previously used to decorate the bed. He shifted it to rest between his and Dean's twin beds.

Sam then took Cas from Dean and rested the angel in his new nest, kissing his soft cheek and tucking him in with a pillow case before grabbing two beers from the fridge and chucking one at his brother.

"Well, here's to an interesting day."

"That's one word for it."

....

Dean woke up early when he felt something warm pressed up against his side. When he looked down, he realized that it was Castiel, curled up like a cat with his thumb in his mouth.

Dean didn't have a clue how the angel had climbed onto his bed, but he suspected that the little black wings had something to do with it; the baby hadn't shown any signs of being able to walk the day before and was content with snuggling and being carried.

Cas truly did look adorable, but Dean wasn't sure about the whole snuggling with angels thing, so he tried to wriggle away.

However, when he did this he was met with a scowl as Castiel woke and let out an irritated chirp before blinking rapidly.

"No!"

The fledgling stretched out its whole body, arching its back and rustling his feathers until satisfied that his feathers were now all in place after his wash last night.

Cas then began carding his fingers through his feathers, awkwardly trying to bend the tiny wings around himself until eventually he let out a soft yawn. He looked up at Dean and nuzzled his chest for a cuddle, but Dean just ruffled his hair and once again tried to get up.

Castiel let out a small hitching breath and his lip wobbled so Dean immediately settled back down and watched as Cas stretched his wings to their full wingspan before cocooning them back around his tiny body once again.

However, after ten more minutes, Dean really, really had to take a leak.

Cas sniffled softly when Dean tried to get up again and balled his tiny fist in Dean's nightshirt until eventually Dean accepted that he wasn't going anywhere fast. With that in mind, he readjusted his pillows and drifted off asleep again with Cas coughing softly into his side.

When Dean next woke, Cas was sitting cross legged on Dean's chest, pulling on his ear and coughing violently into his wing.

"Cas, I need the loo, gerrof!" Dean stumbled to his feet, plopping Cas down on his pillow and running to the bathroom.

When he returned, silent tears were streaming from Cas' piercing blue eyes and he had huddled into a ball.

"Hey little guy, what's wrong?" Cas gave a small cough and whimpered, a small whining noise escaping his tiny throat.

"Ok angel, c'mere." Cas reached out his arms for Dean to scoop him up and Dean complied, rocking the angel close to his chest before turning his attention to Sam.

"Sam, oi! Sasquatch, wake up." Dean kicked his brother's hand, which was lolling off the bed.

"Mnnngh?"

"Very articulate. Look, I think Cas is getting sick, can y'look after him while I go and get some more honey and kids Tylenol."

"Is that a good idea for an angel?"

"Dunno, but he's crying and I don't know what else to do. Just don't forget to feed the little guy while I'm gone."

"I won't."

Dean passed Castiel over to his little brother and watched as Cas snuggled up to Sam's chest on instinct and let out a small sniffle.

"Hey little man, shall we get you that honey?" Sam smiled, grabbing a bottle and beginning to feed Cas. It reminded him of feeding a kitten once at a petting zoo and he smiled softly, running a finger through the angel's dark mess of bed hair. That had been one of the few good days between hunts and Sam still remembered how he and Dean had pleaded with their father to let them go. It was worth it, even though Dean constantly had to remind Sam why they couldn't have an animal on the road for a month.

"You are so cute, d'ya know that, Cas? I think you've got Dean going all soppy, two shopping trips for you in as many days, it's a record!"

Cas gurgled a little and suckled on the honey, which soothed his sore throat a little.

Then, once he was full, Cas wriggled in Sam's grip until the younger Winchester placed him down on the carpeted floor.

Soon, Cas was crawling along the floor in the oversized T-shirt and trying to stand. He kept getting to his feet and wobbling precariously, squatting on the balls of his feet in an attempt to regain balance before fully rising.

Once he had got the hang of staying upright, Cas tried to totter forward and swayed alarmingly before toppling to the ground again.

"Ooof!"

Sam sat and watched wearily, not sure whether he should help or not.

The look on Castiel's face was adorable, a picture of bewilderment at not being able to stand mixed in with determination and frustration.

He gave a small cough and sniffled, looking at Sam for reassurance. Sam offered him a warm grin in turn and nodded in encouragement.

"You're doing good little guy, keep going," Sam prompted gently.

Cas stood once again, plopping down on the ground after a few moments, but he was determined not to let walking defeat him.

Sam kept expecting an outburst of angry tears or even a full on tantrum, but it never came. Instead, Cas would just stand again until eventually he managed a couple of steps.

Castiel let out a small yawn when he fell on his third step, his tiny button nose wrinkling as his pink lips spread out as if he was trying to catch flies. Then, he began to cough violently – doubling over and wrapping his wings around his torso as Sam rubbed his back soothingly.

The little angel flapped his wings again and rustled his feathers as he stood and regained his balance again. This time, he seemed to get the hang of walking, his arms spinning in circles as managed to take five steps forward towards Sam, who had returned back to his seat.

However, on his sixth step, Cas let out an alarmed chirp and fell forwards, limbs sprawling out like Bambi on ice.

Sam tried to catch the angel, but missed by a matter on centimeters and before he could do anything, Cas had hit his head hard on Sam's chair leg.

And that was when all hell was let loose.

"Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaam!"

Castiel's facial expression went from confused, to displeased, to pain in an instant, his eyes welling up and his arms snapping up to rub at his bleeding and rapidly bruising forehead. Judging by the immediate swelling, he had hit his head really hard.

Sam fought to keep the panic out of his voice as he bent down next to the angel, "hey Cas, don't touch it, let me see…" Sam tentatively lifted away Cas' fists and brushed a finger tentatively along the now egg-sized lump, although he avoided touching the actual cut.

Cas began to scream, shrieking and crying in a language that Sam did not recognize – although he guessed it was Enochian based on his research. The little angel bowed his head and shrieked without a single waver in his voice, not even stopping when Dean's bottle of whiskey and the motel mirror shattered along with the light bulb and the television screen.

Bang goes their deposit…or smash.

Sam wanted to curl up as well, to block his ears from the head-splitting noise, but he forced himself to comfort Castiel first, scooping up the angel and rocking him and rubbing his back until eventually he calmed down.

When Cas was done screaming the motel down – literally – he allowed Sam to take a look at the cut. It was pretty deep and looked very sore but Sam was loathe to stitch up the fledgling. He was just so small and vulnerable and he didn't want to hurt the little guy.

Therefore, he grabbed the medical kit and taped his head up with some steri-stirps, sticking down the last one just as Dean opened the door.

"Hey Sam, Cassie, how're you-WHAT HAPPENED?!" Dean looked around completely startled at the sight of the trashed room.

"Cas fell and hit his head pretty hard. I couldn't catch him in time."

"I can see that, c'mere little guy." Dean lifted Cas into his arms and gently fed the angel a Tylenol before rocking him back and forth in an attempt to staunch the angel's hiccoughs and silent tears.

"How about some honey, hey?"

Cas gurgled feebly and opened his mouth up for the bottle that Sam carried over and handed over to his brother.

The baby angel sucked down the honey, shivering a little until Dean stood, grabbed a comforter from his bed and laid it down over himself and the angel.

"Sam, pass me a beer will you?"

"With a baby?"

"Yeah."

"Fine, but just one."

Sam passed Dean a beer and grabbed one for himself as well before sitting down next to his brother and gently began to stroke Cas' wings as the angel closed his eyes contentedly and fell asleep.

Dean lazily flipped open his Dad's journal, the television now out of order due to the baby angel wrapped up in his arms.

All of a sudden there was there was a blinding flash of white light that caused both brothers to drop their beers with a clatter to the floor.

"What the fuck?" Dean stood, simultaneously placing Cas on the sofa out of harm's way and pulling his gun from his waistband.

Dean ignored Cas' distressed cry at being woken, raising his gun. However, as soon as the white light seemed to faze, he didn't shoot.

Instead, he exchanged a look with Sam who looked just as bemused as he was.

Sitting cross legged in front of them was a tiny figure with long golden hair and hazel eyes. He was dressed in a white robe with four feet wide wings comprising of golden and light brown feathers. Some of them were speckled and they were flapping wildly. The child looked terrified, taking a few steps back from the brothers with his face screwed up in confusion. He couldn't be more than three years old – or at least, if he was human he would look three.

"W-who are you? W-w-where - I, what?" The little boy crossed his arms tightly around his waist in a defensive position and glared at Sam and Dean.

"Hey kid, I'm Sam, this is my brother Dean. Um? We're in South Dakota. How did you get here? Who are you?"

"I-Gabriel…I don't know. Did you summon me? Send me back! Lemme alone!" The child flared his wings out to try and look intimidating, scowling angrily and snarling.

"Gabriel, we didn't summon you."

"But…" The child went back to looking confused, his wings flapping in agitation.

"I promise we didn't summon you, we're just as confused as you are. What's the last thing you remember?"

"I was playing with Balthy and then I turned his feathers purple for a joke and even Michael was laughing and…" Gabriel cut himself off, going pale and seemingly realizing that he was standing in a motel room with two complete strangers. He flinched violently when Sam reached forward having noticed the fear cross his face.

"LEMME ALONE!" Gabriel turned and ran for the door, trying to open it but realizing he was too short to reach the handle. Therefore, he turned again and sprinted under Dean's outstretched arms and under Sam's lanky legs before crawling under Sam's bed, where he curled up in terror.

"Gabriel? You're ok Gabriel, c'mon out from there. Don't be afraid."

"W-wanna go home." Gabriel let out a muffled sob and curled up further under the bed.

"Hey, kid. Gabriel? Gabriel, it's ok, you're ok. Shhhh, don't cry Gabe, we'll sort you out and get you home again."

Gabriel didn't answer so Dean crouched down by the bed and reached forward to ease the angel out.

However, he pulled back with a startled yelp when his entire hand began to burn with shooting pains. He looked at his damaged limb and saw that it was covered in angry white lumps, like stinging nettle rash.

"Son of a bitch, that hurts!"

Dean retreated, holding his hand under the faucet and cursing as Sam gently tried again.

"Gabriel, we think we already have a lead. We found a baby fledgling in an alley yesterday and maybe he was zapped from heaven like you were."

A pair of hazel eyes blinked up at him and Sam could see that he had hit the nail on the head. Gabriel was definitely interested now and he even inched out from the bed a little.

"C'mon out of there and you can meet him, ok?"

Gabriel nodded, crawling out from under the bed and following Sam over to the sofa. His eyes lit up when he saw the tiny fledgling and he immediately began to cradle Cas in his arms. Cas woke up with a small moan when he was picked up and he sneezed weakly against Gabe's robe before beginning to cough.

"Hey Cas, you ok?"

"How do you know his name?"

"M'n angel."

That didn't really answer the question, but Sam didn't dig any further and just accepted it.

"He's sick." Gabriel stated whilst glaring at Sam and Dean (who had his hand wrapped in a vinegar soaked cloth) as if it was their fault.

"It wasn't our fault, when we found him he was soaked through." Dean snapped, increasingly irritated by the angel's bratty behavior.

Gabriel wasn't fazed and continued to glower for a moment before pressing two fingers to Cas' forehead. Another flash of white light shone around the angels and suddenly Cas' coughing fit stopped.

"Whoa, what did you do?"

"My grace." Gabriel stated this as if it was obvious before snapping his fingers. A small golden bottle appeared in his hands and he pressed the nipple of it to Cas' lips. The fledgling cooed in excitement and flapped happily, drinking from the bottle and purring deeply.

"Uh, thanks. He was getting pretty miserable."

Gabriel smiled gently and snapped his fingers again, producing a lollipop and popping it in his mouth with a smug grin.

"Well, um, I guess we should find a way to send you back."

The angel nodded and shuffled slightly, biting his lollipop off its stick and zapping some wine gums into existence instead.

"I'd appreciate it if you healed my hand before I go and help though." Dean muttered, holding out his damaged limb and flinching when Gabriel grabbed it with more force than was strictly necessary.

However, the angel did zap away the stings, so Dean couldn't complain too much. Once he had done this he turned his attention back to Cas, cuddling him and beginning to hum softly. It didn't sound like a human humming, the sound was beautiful and seemed to warm up Sam and Dean's entire bodies, sending shivers up their spines and causing their hair to stand on end.

Castiel smiled happily, reaching out for Gabriel and playing with his hair.

"Wuv you, Gabeyel!"

"I love you too little guy. Sleep now." Cas nodded, his eyes fluttering shut as he fell into a restful sleep.

…SN…SN…SN…SN…SN…

Half an hour later Castiel had woken up again and was whining, squirming his hips and whimpering as he fisted Gabriel's robe and began to cry.

Dean looked up at the angels to see what was going on and was met with a pair of worried golden eyes.

"Wee!" Cas sobbed, banging a pudgy fist on Gabe's chest.

"He needs toilet."

Diapers.

Dean hadn't bought any diapers.

Shit.

Literally…

"Right, let's put him in the tub for now and then I'll go shopping."

Gabriel nodded, carrying Cas to the bathroom and settling him in the tub before turning and frowning at Dean.

"G'way."

"What?"

"Don't look at his vessel. I don't trust you."

Dean backed away with his hands raised placatingly, gingerly closing the door and trying to block out the sounds of Cas huffing with effort as he did his business, or to the sound of tinkling 'water' going down the drain.

When the angels reappeared, Cas looked exhausted and Gabriel was humming to him again.

"Right, you two are coming shopping with me so Sam can do some research in peace. I need you to put this on Gabe, and I'll wrap Cas up in a blanket so nobody sees his wings or realizes he isn't wearing anything."

Gabriel scowled but accepted the proffered AC/DC shirt, pulling it awkwardly over his wings – he wasn't old enough to be able to fully retract them yet.

However, he refused to pass Castiel over and insisted upon wrapping his brother up on his own.

Once they were done, he followed close behind Dean, walking warily on bare feet and trying to keep his distance.

It took a bit of coaxing to persuade Gabriel to settle in the back seat, but he did so and remained silent as Dean started up his beloved Impala and pulled out of the motel car park.

However, half way there Gabriel mumbled something.

"What?"

"Don't feel good."

"What do you mean, you don't feel good?"

"Tummy."

Before Gabriel got any further he leant forwards and was sick in the footwell of the Impala, causing Dean to groan loudly.

His Impala! His poor, poor baby!

But he immediately felt bad for being selfish when he saw tears streaming down Gabriel's face as he hiccoughed and threw up again.

"Ok kid, out you get."

Dean scooped up the struggling angel, rubbing his back on the sidewalk as the child heaved once, twice, three more times before falling forward completely boneless. He would have face planted the floor if Dean hadn't grabbed his shoulders in time.

"Do you think it's stopped now?"

Gabriel nodded, tears streaming down his cheeks as Dean picked him up and rocked him.

"I guess you get carsick, huh?" The only response he got was the angel shuddering violently, but luckily the little guy's feisty nature had been overpowered by exhaustion. It looked like Gabriel no longer had the energy to fight.

"Ok, I'm just gonna clean the Impala up a bit, then we'll got to Walmart and get some travel sickness meds, clothes and diapers. Ok?"

Gabriel nodded, picking Cas up from the car and cradling his sleeping brother with a few pain-filled tears spilling down his cheeks.

He'd never been sick before, and he never wanted to again.

"Right, all done. C'mon little guy."

"M'not little. M'an angel."

"Sure you are, tough guy." Dean smirked, but he didn't say anything else when he saw Gabriel's hurt and sullen expression.

…SN…SN…SN…SN…SN…

Gabriel trailed a few feet behind Dean as he picked the necessary items up from different shelves.

He had already found Cas some diapers and Gabriel had changed him in the bathroom whilst Dean had stood facing the other direction. Then, he had picked out a load of onesies, tiny jeans, tops and socks for Cas, as well as a dinky little teddy bear hat with ears.

Then, he had shoved a shit-load of honey into his trolley and led Gabriel to the kids section where the little boy grabbed the first few tops and jeans that he saw – all in shades of dark green that complimented his golden hair and feathers.

"Right then, I just need to get a couple of car seats and I think we're good to go, ok?"

Gabe nodded, flagging even further behind than before.

"Are you tired buddy, I can carry you if you like." Gabriel shook his head, but once he had tripped over his feet twice and almost dropped Castiel, he handed over his baby brother and watched as Dean placed him in the kid compartment of the trolley with his pudgy legs hanging down.

However, he still refused to be carried himself.

Well, he did until his vision suddenly went blurry and he found himself plummeting to the floor. This had resulted in some nasty bruising on his knees and Gabriel was mortified when tears welled up in his eyes.

"Right, that's it, no more being stubborn. C'mere."

Dean bent down and scooped Gabriel up; resting his bottom on his hip and making sure that the angels wings weren't visible beneath his tee.

After a moment's hesitation Gabriel wrapped his arms around Dean's neck and clung on.

In a matter of minutes Gabriel fell asleep in Dean's arms and the hunter couldn't help but smile. The little angel reminded Dean of himself, stubborn and incredibly protective of his family.

He picked up the car seats, tiny shoes and some children's tooth brushes, diapers, shampoo, conditioner and bubbles before deciding on two ducks, one golden and one blue. Then he headed over to the toy section, nudging Gabriel awake and settling him down on the ground.

"Why don't you pick out some toys?" The angel nodded determinedly, selecting a rattle, a children's picture book with cool textures, a teething ring, a fluffy kitten toy, a hanging mobile, a baby play mat and a fist-sized elephant. He placed these next to Cas, who was still sleeping before tugging on Dean's leg.

"We go? M'tired."

"Sure, but don't you want anything for yourself?"

"For me?"

"Yeah, anything you like within reason."

Gabriel's eyes seemed to light up, all traces of tiredness eradicated to be returned with excitement.

Dean was worried that he would end up spending a fortune, judging by that look, but the angel simply picked up the cheapest miniature car and a toffee brown teddy.

"Is that all you want?" Gabriel nodded, yawning softly and holding his arms out to be carried again.

It looked like Dean had somehow won him over.

"Ok then, up you come." Dean picked up Gabriel so the angel was straddling his chest with his head buried in Dean's neck before setting off to the cashier, who smiled at the adorable sight of the sleeping children.

"Well aren't they just precious little angels, you are a very lucky man, sir."

"Yeah, aren't they just!?" Dean smiled, handing over a fake credit card and making a mental note that they would have to move on to avoid suspicion – this was an expensive haul and he didn't want the cops on their trail.

Once he had paid up, Dean spend a few minutes setting up the car seats before settling both of the sleeping angels into them respectively, strapping them in with the seatbelts and driving back to the motel.

At least when he was asleep, Gabriel wasn't going to puke in Baby.

...

When Dean entered the door with four shopping bags and two angels in his arms, Sam couldn't help but snort in amusement.

"Honey, I'm home!" Dean called out softly, shutting the door carefully behind him to avoid waking the sleeping angels.

Sam, on the other hand, did not lower his voice.

"Helllooooo, soccer Momma."

"Shuddup, and don't wake them up for god's sake. Especially not Gabriel, if he wakes up I might just cry."

"How come?"

"He's a stubborn little ass."

"So are you!"

"Hey! Less of the little part, bitch."

"Short-ass jerk."

"I'm gonna put them to bed for now, have you ordered any food?"

"Yeah, there's pizza on the way, should be here in half an hour."

"Did you get me a meat feast?"

"Yes Dean, unlike you, I get the shopping I am asked for." Sam was obviously still bitter about Dean not bringing back his vegetables and quinoa the other day.

"Don't be a whiny girl. Did you get something for Gabe?"

"Yeah, since he's a sweet tooth I got him a Hawaiian."

"Oh, and not just because that's your favorite since you such a girl, but don't want to admit it."

"Nope, I got a Vegetarian."

"Don't lie to me, Samantha. Anyways, what about the research, was that as successful?"

"No."

"Great, looks like we're stuck with Sleepy and Grumpy."

"Don't be hard on the little guy, he's just a kid. You'd be frightened too if you were suddenly pulled away from home and shoved in a room full of strangers. He's only three."

"I guess…" Dean looked over at the sleeping child and couldn't help but feel bad for him, the kid had his arms wrapped around his little brother and he had shucked off his baggy T-shirt. His wings were wrapped around the pair of them and the little boy was suckling on his thumb.

It was…adorable.

All too soon the pizza man arrived, knocking loudly on their door and rousing Gabe from his slumber. The angel frowned and rolled over to protectively hug his stomach, which was still churning a little from being sick earlier.

"Gabe, dinner's here, you hungry?" Sam gently rested a hand on Gabriel's shoulder and coaxed him up, gently helping the angel back into his shirt whilst Dean opened the door.

Gabriel nodded and allowed Sam to pick him up and carry him to the sofa where they began to eat their pizza. Gabriel only managed a quarter of his kid's size pizza before falling asleep with his head resting on Sam's arm.

Dean smiled softly at the adorable sight, going over to the shopping bags and unpacking the shopping onto the side and hooking out Gabe and Cas' elephant and teddy. He checked Cas' diaper wasn't wet before tunneling the elephant under his skinny arm and laying Gabriel and his teddy next to the baby.

Then he sat back with Sam enjoying another beer before offering Sam his bed and falling asleep on the sofa.

However, halfway through the night, Dean heard Cas crying.

He sat up immediately, searching for Cas but soon discovering that he wasn't in bed…and neither was Gabriel.

"Gabriel, Cas, where are you?"

He tracked the noise to the wardrobe, which he opened concernedly.

Inside, it looked like Gabriel had made some sort of nest in the wardrobe; there were four cushions inside and three blankets. Not to mention the four pillows from Sam's bed had been de-stuffed and there were feathers everywhere. And to add to it, Gabriel had also wrapped his wings around Cas, who was wriggling and crying despite Gabe's soft humming.

"What the hell Gabe? Those aren't our pillows!" Gabriel pouted, scowling and flinching back when Dean reached into the wardrobe to pull him up by the scruff of his neck. However, Dean immediately let go when Gabriel let out a terrified squeak of fright and began to squirm. The three year old collapsed in a heap on his bed of feathers and scowled up at Dean, cradling Cas and looking up at Dean as if he had just shot a damned puppy or something.

"Look, just give me Cas, he's probably just hungry or needs a diaper change."

Gabriel shook his head, standing and brushing the feathers away from himself before searching for the diapers, nappy cream and powder. All the while he continued to cling to Cas and shoot Dean angry looks.

"Gabe, you're gonna trust me and Sammy with him at some point, there's no way you can look after him full time. Besides, you look exhausted."

"I's do it. M'not sleepy."

"Fine, but don't come crying to me tomorrow morning when you're tired and grouchy."

Dean threw himself back down on his bed and listened to the noises of Gabriel changing Cas and the ruffle of feathers as Gabriel zapped up some nectar and comforted the crying baby.

However, after a while Dean was dragged into sleep, not noticing that Cas didn't stop crying for a further hour and that Gabriel only managed to get three hours of sleep all night.

…SN…SN…SN…SN…SN…

Gabriel pouted as he rolled his toy car across the floor and was interrupted by Sam scooping him up.

"Wha?" The angel was cut off by a wide yawn and Sam ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Well, we haven't found anything out on the research side yet and it's not healthy to keep cooped up inside, so we're going to the park."

"Don't wanna."

"Well tough, feathers, we're going and that's final." Dean interjected before Sam would cave under the force of Gabe's puppy dog eyes. Angel or not, Gabriel needed to be shown who was boss.

"No!"

"Yes." Dean said this with so much finality that Gabriel shut up, but he did proceed to stomp his way outside after eating a pack of Smarties for breakfast.

…SN…SN…SN…SN…SN…

"C'mon Gabe, stop slacking."

Gabriel scowled; dragging his feet angrily as he walked with Cas snuggled up to his chest.

He was sooooo tired.

It must be something to do with being on Earth, because he never felt like this in Heaven. At home he only ate and drank for pleasure, but here it was a necessity…and he was soooo over going to the toilet and washing.

Living on Earth sucked.

"Home?" 

"Not yet, we're nearly at the ice cream place, if you're good I'll buy you a tub."

Gabriel nodded softly and tried to increase his pace, but once again he found himself lagging behind. Eventually he gave in and allowed Dean to carry Cas, but he walked sullenly in his own little world of tiredness and fear until ten minutes later he realized that he had lost the Winchesters.

"Sam? De?" Gabriel spun around, terror creeping up inside him when the Winchesters were nowhere to be seen. He was alone.

The little angel blinked away the last few ounces of tiredness before finding a burst of energy and running back in the direction he came from. Adrenaline was pulsing through him and Gabriel felt sick to his stomach with fear.

He'd left Cas alone with the Winchesters, what if they did something to his brother now that he wasn't there to protect him?

Before Gabriel knew what was happening tears were streaming down his face and he was finding it difficult to breathe. The little angel was forced to stop running, slumping down against a tree and curling up into the smallest ball possible.

In a feeble attempt to make himself feel better, he materialized a lollipop to suck on, unwrapping the candy and popping it in his mouth between the side of his cheek and his teeth. He gnawed at the white stick, turning it around in his mouth until the paper was soggy.

And then he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hello precious, what's a pretty little boy like you doing all alone in the cold?"

The man slid an arm under Gabriel's and pulled him up before kneeling down so they were face to face.

"Are you lost kiddo? I can give you a lift back home if you like. I'm sure that we can…come to a suitable arrangement."

Gabriel bit the man's arm when the man made a move to grab him, sinking his teeth in as deep as he could and using his grace to force the man back a few paces.

Although confused, the man didn't turn and flee like Gabriel had hoped he would.

"You little brat!" The man lunged forwards, grabbing Gabriel by the neck and pushing him against the tree the boy had been leaning on. Then, he reached out a calloused hand and cupped his cheek.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM YOU SICK BASTARD!"

Gabriel looked up, relief flooding through him when he saw Sam and Dean sprinting over to him.

"Shit!"

The man dropped Gabriel and ran as the Winchesters approached, Sam crouching down to check on Gabriel whilst his older brother chased the pedophile and tackled him to the ground before punching him in the face repeatedly and kicking the guy in the balls so hard that he was "gonna have to pull them out of his ass."

Gabriel sobbed limply in Sam's arms, clinging to the taller man and burying his face in the crook of Sam's neck as snot, sweat and tears poured down his face.

"I-I-" Gabriel tried to explain what had happened but Sam shushed him and pulled the distraught angel into his arms, stroking his concealed wings through the new T-shirt and kissing him gently on the forehead.

"Shhh, hush now, we're here, Dean's sorting him out, you're ok, he isn't going to hurt you, its ok. Shhhh, don't cry, it's all over. I'm so sorry Gabe, but it's all over now, he's not going to hurt you again. Shhh, shhhhhhhh. Are you hurt anywhere? Did he touch you anywhere?"

Gabriel shook his head shakily, "he, h-he on-only…my arms and-" Gabriel gestured limply at his face before curling back up and laying rigidly in Sam's arms.

"Ok, that's good. C'mon, the police are here kiddo; they might want to talk to you a little."

Gabriel nodded, popping another apple flavored sucker in his mouth and suckling on it as tears continued to fall.

"Hello sir, are you Dean?"

"No, I'm his brother Sam, Dean's the one over there pinning that man- no, monster, down."

"Alright." The policeman made a note on his pad before continuing, "can you please tell me what happened?"

"We were walking in the park and Gabriel here was tired, he fell behind a bit and we lost him. We spent what felt like hours searching for him, but it could only have been a few minutes, and when we did spot him that creep was-" Sam shuddered, unable to continue with that line of thought…god, what would have happened if they hadn't found Gabriel in time.

"Ok, thank you sir. Now then Gabriel, can I ask you something?"

Gabriel tried to hide further in Sam's hold, but Sam stroked his hair and coaxed the boy into looking up.

"Sonny, I need you to tell me if he touched you anywhere, or if he said anything. Did he hurt you?"

"N-no. Said I was pwetty, and touched m-my face 'n arms. He wanted to dwive m-me h-home."

The officer nodded solemnly before pulling out a sticker with a teddy bear and sticking it on Gabriel's top. Sam read the patronizing message spelt across it – 'well done!' Ugh.

"Well, you have been a really brave little boy, thank you for your help."

Gabriel nodded again before fisting Sam's plaid shirt and falling asleep. He was beyond exhausted.

Sam carried Gabriel and led Cas to Dean, the youngest angel toddling and swaying as he made his way over to Dean with a twig in hand.

Dean was too busy to notice though, he was currently explaining his violent actions to the police whilst the monster was being cuffed and led to a police car.

"He tried to hurt my son! Of course I beat him up!"

"Sir, under the circumstances I will leave you with a verbal caution, but if anything like this happens again, you will be charged with assault and grievous bodily harm. I have a kid myself, but next time one of my colleagues may not be so lenient."

"I'll bear that in mind." Dean snarled and turned his back on the police officer, taking Cas from Sam and looking worriedly down at Gabriel.

"Is he ok?"

"Yeah, just shaken up and tired. Shall we go back?"

"I guess so; do you want me to take him?"

"Nah, I'm good. He's light as a feather anyway."

"God knows how, considering the amount of candy he eats."

"I think he deserves a lot of candy after today, we should never have taken him out. It was obvious he couldn't keep up and that he was tired."

"Don't blame yourself Sammy, if anything it was my fault. I'm the one who forced the issue and didn't insist upon looking after Castiel last night." Dean smiled down at Cas, who was clinging to his jeans and looking up at him with wide blue eyes whilst tapping him on the knee with his stick.

"Alright Cas, put that down before you go getting yourself a handful of splinters."

Castiel cried out when Dean took his stick, but Dean pulled his toy elephant out of a jacket pocket and gave it to Cas to mollify him.

"Gabe?"

"He's sleeping Cas, you can play later. C'mon, let's see if you can walk over there."

Dean pointed over to the path and watched Cas closely as the baby angel toddled away excitedly, he didn't let Cas get more than five feet in front of him though, and he certainly didn't let Castiel out of his sight.

Poor Gabriel, he must have been terrified when he realized he was on his own.

Sighing when Cas gave up walking and plopped cross legged on the ground, Dean scooped up the angel and carried him the rest of the way to the Impala, which he revved up and drove in silence.

He didn't even bother turning on the radio, instead listening to the sounds of Gabriel sniffling in his sleep and Cas gurgling as he sucked on a long tuft of Sam's hair.

They spent the rest of the evening playing Junior Monopoly with Gabriel, letting the angel win multiple times as Cas toddled and crawled around them, gurgling and chewing on the pieces – luckily for Cas, Dean had good eyesight and reflexes and managed to prevent the fledgling from choking or swallowing the houses or the dice.

It seemed as though Gabriel had definitely perked up since the park incident now that he had slept for a couple of hours. In fact, he was back to his mischievous self, having changed all of Dean's houses pink, made the dice whizz around the room like a rocket when Sam had tried to role and had turned the light fitting into a disco ball.

Sam didn't have the heart to tell him off and Dean had to fight back laughter as he bit his lip so hard that it began to bleed.

Sam didn't have a clue why suddenly his brother's slightly irritated expression had changed into one of pure amusement, but then again he hadn't looked in the mirror and realized that he was wearing full on, drag-style turquoise glitter eye shadow and cherry red lipstick. Oh, not to mention the deep pink blusher and purple nail varnish.

"Right, I think it's bed time. Don't you?"

Gabriel nodded, making the lollipop in his mouth disappear before allowing Sam to help him clean his teeth as Dean changed Cas' diaper. It seemed as though the child now fully trusted the Winchesters to help him and not harm him after they had saved him from the pedophile. At least something good had come out of the whole ordeal.

Once done, he went over to the wardrobe, taking Cas from Dean before snuggling up in his nest and humming until both angels were fast asleep.

Dean looked down sadly at the two angels, they had been dragged away from their home and Gabriel had been molested. Earth clearly wasn't making a good first impression.

"Goodnight, my little angels."

"Aw Dean, is that your soft side I can see coming out of the closet?"

"Shuddup Sammy, go to sleep."

"Night, jerk."

"Sweet dreams, bitch."

...

Sam, Dean, Gabriel and Cas were all sitting on the sofa, Cas snuggled up against Sam whilst Dean had Gabriel on his lap. The eldest Winchester was bouncing Gabriel up and down with his knees, making the angel giggle as he watched the cartoons playing on the motel television.

The screen was blurry and the volume was low, but the kid was amazed by the technology and was perfectly happy watching a sponge and starfish going on underwater adventures revolving around Crabby Patties.

Meantime, Sam and Dean were researching, Sam on the laptop set down on the armrest and Dean paging through fat books. They were still searching for a way to send the angels back home, but somewhat reluctantly. They had grown attached to the baby angels – but still, it was unfair to keep them away from their flock and the little guys clearly missed home.

Although Gabriel no longer voiced any complaints he sometimes paused his mischief making, looking forlorn and staring up at the sky through the window.

It was hard seeing the little boy miserable, so Sam had re-doubled his research attempts and even Dean had agreed to opening some books.

"Saaaaaaam!"

"Yeah, Gabe?"

"M'bored."

"Well go play with something, what about those new toy cars that we bought for you."

"Ok." Gabriel bounced down from Dean's lap, picking up his new toy cars and racing them around the floor, laughing when Cas wriggled free from Sam's grip and toddled over to his older brother, gripping one of the toys and beginning to race Gabe around the room with his cars.

Dean and Sam half watched them in amusement, egging the brothers on as they continued their research.

It had been hours and they still hadn't gotten anywhere.

It was useless.

This sort of thing didn't exactly come with a handbook; no hunter had ever bothered to write 'How to Send an Angel Back to Heaven, For Dummies.'

It was a shame really, because a book going by that title would have really come in handy right about yesterday.

However, at one o clock the brothers gave up and went out for lunch, Sam and Dean tucking into a burger whilst Cas and Gabe shared an adult's portion of mac n' cheese. It was really good and Gabriel let out a squeal of excitement when the Winchesters bought him a huge chocolate sundae for dessert.

When they returned home the little angel entertained himself and Cas by creating bubbles with his grace and making them float around the room. Cas stared up at them in delight, popping each one with his pudgy hands and grinning when they released different scents such as vanilla, mango, strawberry or apple depending on the color. There were red bubbles, yellow ones, blue, green, purple, silver, pink and orange and Cas was completely amazed by them, his eyes were wide with pleasure and he giggled when Sam and Dean eventually gave up on their research and decided to join in with their game.

However, Gabriel had other ideas.

When Dean reached out to pop the blue bubble in front of him it kept moving away, scooting just out of reach so that Dean was practically chasing it round the room like a lunatic. Then, when he finally did grab the bubble it wouldn't pop. No matter how hard he prodded, pressed, pinched or squeezed it the bubble didn't break as it is for Cas.

Sam burst out laughing at the look of frustration on his older brother's face and snorted when the bubble finally burst, causing Dean to jump back like a startled kitten.

"Having fun there, Dean?"

"Shut up, you try it!"

Sam took up the challenge, grabbing the nearest bubble, this time purple and pressing his nails into the smooth surface. The bubble burst immediately. However, this was not a victory for Sam – inside the bubble had been a load of glitter which was now ingrained in his hair.

Everyone burst out laughing, especially Cas who started to scoop up glitter from the floor to play with. In no time at all, all four were covered in glitter and Sam and Dean ended up showering with an angel each. It took ages to get the glitter out of their hair and wings, but they were all laughing and joking by the end of it.

They finally settled down to watch a cowboy film before Gabriel and Cas eventually fell asleep. Sam tucked them both into the nest in their wardrobe, kissing each angel on the forehead before settling back down next to Dean.

"What are we going to do if we can't find a way to send them home? We can't keep them here forever, I mean, they're angels…I don't think we can exactly send them into daycare. The authorities might notice the fluffy angel wings and the random lollipops that keep materializing out of thin air."

"We'll find a way, Dean. We always do."

"But these books are useless. We have no footholds at all, nowhere to start. We might as well be looking for a quarter of a needle in twelve haystacks."

"Well, that wouldn't be impossible, just time consuming."

"Yeah, great!" Dean's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Sam chortled softly but sank further into the sofa, picking up a beer and a book. It wasn't exactly light reading, another hunter journal, but it would have to do for now.

Just as he reached the fifth page, there was a blinding white flash of light and a boy, around eight years old, appeared between the twin beds in the motel room.

Another angel.

Dammit.

...

Sam and Dean jumped up as the eldest angel looked around the room with a curious expression, running a hand along the bedside table and then around the rim of the lampshade.

"This is real then, not a vision." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

Dean was confused that these were the angel's first words, but then again he wasn't exactly an expert on angel brain-function or anything.

"Yeah. Um, who are you?"

"I'm Balthazar, you're a human."

"Yep, guilty as charged." Dean gave a lop sided grin that Balthazar did not return.

"Humans are sinful beings; I wish to return home promptly, if you don't mind."

"Um, we don't know how to send angels home. We've got a couple hauled up here already, Castiel and Gabriel. I'm Dean by the way, and this is Sammy. Maybe you can help us; we're at a bit of a dead end."

"Gabriel!" Balthazar shot away from the bedside table in an instant, looking around the room wildly before hurrying to the wardrobe.

"GABE!" The young boy threw open the doors and was bundled over by a mess of golden feathers.

"Balthy! Is that you?"

"It sure is! What happened here?"

"D'know. M'scared Balth. I wanna go home."

"There's no need to be scared kiddo, I'm here now. I'll take care of you and little Cassie here."

"Love you."

"Love you too kid, but you should get some sleep. You look exhausted."

"M'not tired."

"Sure you aren't."

Balthazar scooped Gabriel into his arms, Gabriel holding Cas in turn and he carried the other two angels to the sofa where he began to groom their wings and hum like Gabriel did. His voice was lower, but it still had the same effect on Sam and Dean, as well as his younger brothers.

In no time at all the two younger angels were asleep and Balthazar lifted them and laid them back down in their nest.

"Sleep tight, brothers."

Once he was done, Balthazar settled down to talk to Sam and Dean.

"Are you saying that my brothers just appeared here like I did?"

"Yeah, have you ever heard of anything like this happening before?"

"No." Balthazar pouted a little, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Don't cry, Balthazar, just try and relax."

Balthazar nodded but failed to keep his tears under control and in no time he was sobbing into Dean's arm, shaking violently as he whimpered and kept saying that he wanted to go home.

"Hush now, you're safe, we'll look after you until we find a way to send you back."

"B-b-but you said you w-were a-a-at a dead e-end."

"Not quite."

Dean looked at Sam in surprise.

"Dean, think. Who has an answer to everything?"

…SN…SN…SN…SN…SN…

"Thanks Bobby, we'll be there in four or five hours. Can you kid-proof the house a bit, I don't want to have to deal with three angels, let alone three injured angels."

"What do ya think I am, an idjit?!"

"Just checking that you aint going senile. Anyway, seya later. We're gonna stop and buy some stuff first though."

"Bye, and don't get yourself killed on the way here."

"We won't."

Dean hung up the phone before rounding up the angels and his little brother, who was still drying his overly-long hair after a shower. Why he didn't just cut it to reduce maintenance time, Dean would never understand.

When they reached the Impala Dean looked ready to cry. If Gabe was sick again...

"I can't believe I'm fucking doing this." Dean muttered as he belted Cas and Gabriel into their seats..

"Don't swear in front of the angels, Dean," Sam murmured as he read through the first of his shopping lists. Lists. Yep, he had written more than one. In fact, he had gone as far as writing three! One for each angel…it was ridiculous and Dean was forced to give his little brother a full on look of despair.

Sam promptly ignored the look in favor of insisting that Balthazar had to belt himself in as well as his brothers.

"But I'm older!"

"We'll I'm an adult and what I say goes." Balthazar pouted and began to wriggle away from Sam's gargatuan hands, scowling and squirming.

"Sit still, Balthazar. I have to strap you in and if you don't behave, you won't get any toys."

Eventually Balthazar too was strapped in and Dean pulled out of the motel car park. He turned up the music and sung along with AC/DC as Sam read another book, Cas played with loose thread on his sleeve, Gabe sat cuddling his teddy and Balthazar tried to distract Cas from his shirt sleeve with his toy elephant.

Thank God at least Cas behaved perfectly. What with Gabe's pranks and Balthazar's sulks, the Winchesters had their work cut out.

When they finally reached the toy store Gabe was green despite his travel sickness meds and looked close to throwing up again. While Dean rubbed his back, Sam went off with Cas to get a shopping trolley, which he quickly slotted Cas into. When he stepped in a piece of disguarded chewing gum he swore, dragging his shoe along the floor in an attempt to remove the sticky substance.

"What crawled up your ass and died?"

Dean was scowling, Gabriel had just turned his steering wheel fluffy and pink and the radio was playing Hannah Montanna instead of Metallica. He had just told Gabe and Balthy to get out of the car and they had sulked – despite the shopping trip being on their behalf!

God, Sam even had the audacity to look put-upon, like he's the one with the really exhausting responsibilities due to the gum on his shoe whilst Dean was wrestling with two stroppy angels. Jeez, he couldn't cope with this much longer.

"Boys, I swear if you don't stop complaining and being a pain in my ass I swear to god I will pluck your wings."

Gabriel and Balthazar both stopped what they were doing immediately. The pink fluff and music in the Impala immediately disappeared and Balthazar stopped whining, throwing himself in front of Gabriel, who was wide-eyed with fright.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!" 

"What? Kid, I didn't mean it. That was an empty threat, I swear I would never do anything to hurt you. I promise, look at me, come on. I'm not gonna hurt you, you're safe. I've got you, shhhh. Balth, just relax, Gabe, calm down or you'll make yourself sick."

Balthazar moved back a little, turning his back to Dean before cuddling his little brother close and trying to comfort him. Dean could see the angel's wings ruffling and squirming with fright beneath his top.

Just like Dean, Balth put his baby brother first though, despite his fear he managed to stop Gabriel's wailing and soothed his ruffled feathers until the boy finally left the car.

Both angel's faces were blotchy and red with tears, but they held hands and walked over to Sam, Dean and Cas, walking dejectedly towards the store.

Sam shot Dean a look as if to say, 'you absolute idiot,' before scooping Gabriel into his arms and holding Balthazar's hand.

"Why don't you boys find something to play with in the car on the way to Bobby's, some coloring books or puzzle books would probably good. Oh and Balth, Cas and Gabe have a soft toy each, so you can get one too."

Balthazar nodded, finally looking sated and went down one of the aisles, selecting a toy dragon whilst Cas whined to be let out of the shopping cart. Eventually the little boy toddled over to his brother's, selecting two coloring books whilst Gabe selected three books of crosswords, puzzles, dot to dots and simple sudokos.

"Is that all you guys want?" Sam asked, gently scooping Gabriel into one arm and Cas into the other when all three angels nodded happily. This left Balthazar standing alone and after a few awkward moments Dean scooped up the eight year old into his own arms, running a hand over his cloth-covered feathers before kissing the eldest angel on the forehead.

"Don't worry kiddo, we're gonna get this sorted, just you wait and see."

...

The rest of the journey to Bobby's passed in a whirlwind of Metallica, Led Zeppelin and cries of "are we nearly there yet?!" "Dean! I need a wee!" "I feel sick!" "Dean, I think Gabe is serious about feeling sick, he's green." "Stop being such drama queens!" "BLEEEUGH!" "We told you he was actually gonna puke!" "Sorry…"

After the first sick incident everything seemed to calm down, with comments on the weather and Dean's taste of music filling the silence. However, after half an hour, Gabriel, - who was curled up in a ball of misery, mumbled that he was going to be sick again.

Dean only listened to the latter of those comments from the angels, immediately pulling over so that Gabriel could stumble out of the car and throw up all over the side walk. This car sickness thing was so last year and although Dean felt sorry for the little guy, Gabriel had puked on the Impala's seat – that was one crime he wasn't ever going to fully forgive.

Gabriel's periodic puking had held up proceedings a lot, what with Dean having to pull into every other service station to change the sick-covered angel. The poor little guy was sobbing and dry heaving miserably after his third time throwing up and he was constantly whimpering that his stomach hurt and that he wanted to go home. In heaven he had never gotten sick like this…his vessel was so weakened prone to illness. It really was an impractical costume.

After a lot of persuading Sam let Gabriel ride on his lap in the front of the car – it may not be legal but it helped with the car sickness a little.

…SN…SN…SN…SN…SN…

"Ok kids, we're here." Dean hollered, parking up outside Bobby's salvage yard with a grin. None of the angels replied. Cas was slumped over with his chin on his chest, fast asleep in his car seat with a trickle of drool oozing down his face. Balthazar was also asleep with a pencil still in hand and one of his puzzle books spread out on his lap. Even Gabriel had managed to get some shut eye, one hand fisting Sam's shirt and the other resting against his face. It seemed as though the middle angel had discovered sucking his thumb. But if it helped him calm down and relax, Dean wasn't going to complain.

This left the Winchesters to carry the angels to Bobby's front door, where they were met with a large splash of holy water in the face.

"Sorry, I just had to check." Bobby announced gruffly, sniggering at the death-glare Sam sent him. God, those puppy dog eyes could be evil at times.

However, his smile soon vanished when the three angels woke up due to the cold water. Cas and Gabriel burst into tears whilst Balthazar glared angrily, his wings puffing out irritably under his top.

"Shhh, don't cry kids, c'mon, lets just go inside and get you warmed up and dry." Dean hauled Cas and Gabe further up into his hold and carried them upstairs to the bathroom, Sam lagging behind with Balthazar holding his hand – he offered Bobby an apologetic glance before following his brother. Bobby looked totally bemused until Sam mouthed that the kids were tired and therefore grumpy.

While Sam ran a hot bath with extra bubbles and rubber ducks that he had bought from the kid store, Dean set about removing Cas' dirty diaper and cleaning him up with some baby wipes. Then, the Winchesters set the angels into the warm water, Dean washing Cas and Gabriel's hair whilst Sam did Balthazar's. The angels didn't think much of the water, Balthazar whining that he didn't like his wings getting wet but in the end they put up and shut up. None of them would admit it, but the bathing reminded the fledglings of being groomed and washed in heaven by the other, older angels. It was actually quite nice.

Gabriel and Balthazar hummed contentedly when Sam ran shampoo through their feathers, which were splayed out and quivering slightly at his touches. Cas had even begun to make soft purring noises, occasionally chirping and giggling when Dean washed the base of his wings – they turned out to be rather ticklish.

"Right, now that you boys are all cleaned up, how about we meet Uncle Bobby properly."

"No! He wetted us!" Cas pouted, tilting his head in confusion. Why would Dean want to spend time with someone who had just doused them all in water?

"He was just making sure we weren't possessed, I promise he's a good guy. A little rough around the edges but he has a soft spot for rugrats. He practically raised me and Sammy for a good few months of our childhoods."

"Wadda rugrat?"

"It doesn't matter Cas, c'mon." Dean carried the littlest angel downstairs, clad in a fresh diaper and baby blue onesie – no, Dean had not picked it out because it matches Cas' eyes.

Gabriel tottered behind them, having been listening in to Dean and Cas' conversation. Eventually Balthazar followed, only grumbling a little under his breath.

"Hey kids, sorry for scarin' ya."

"Why you hairy?" Cas piped up, squirming in Dean's grasp until he could reach out and grab a handful of Bobby's beard.

"Cos I'm a real man, kiddo."

"Sam and Dean no real man?"

The Winchesters tried to feign hurt looks, but ended up bursting out laughing at Cas' signature tilt of the head and bemused expression.

"Why laugh me? Mean!"

"S-so-sorry Cas," Dean sniggered, "we're not laughing at you, we're laughing with you." Cas once again looked confused but seemed to loose interest in the conversations after a few more seconds of everyone around him laughing. He wriggled free from Dean's arms in favor of toddling around the room. He stumbled a couple of times but never hit the ground too hard so the adults left him to it.

Or at least they did until there was a loud scream and a wail.

"Cas? What's wrong?"

The little angel burst out from behind the sofa, sobbing in fright.

"Moner!"

"What?"

"Moner!"

"Sam, what is the kid sayin'"

"Do you mean monster, Cas?"

Castiel nodded and sniffled, flinging his arms around Dean and trying to scramble up the hunters legs and out of harms way.

Sam and Bobby pushed Balth and Gabe back, advancing with guns poised towards the sofa.

And then Rumsfeld walked out, leisurely wagging his tail with his tongue lolling out.

"Hey boy, did you just give Cas a shock? That wasn't nice, was it?" Bobby smirked a little, patting his dog affectionately on the head and stroking his ears absentmindedly.

"Don't worry Cas, that's Bobby's dog. He's as soft as a brush, he won't hurt you."

"Scared!"

"You don't need to be kiddo, here, why don't we get you some food?"

Dean set about bustling in the kitchen making burgers for the adults and the two older angels, and porridge with honey for Cas.

Over dinner they discussed different theories Bobby had come up with for how to send the angels home but by the end of the meal they were no closer to having a conceivable plan.

Bobby had also phoned up Rufus, Caleb and Garth but they all called back during the night saying that they had nothing.

Things were not going well.

Soon it was time for the angels to go to sleep, so with Dean, Sam and Bobby in tow they set about making a new nest. Dean moved a queen sized bed to the corner of the room to create two walls around the bed whilst Sam and Cas piled up two walls of pillows to create a boxed in effect. Meantime, Balthazar and Gabriel wandered around the house taking all of Bobby's spare beddings, four soft cushions, five fluffy towels, some of Sam's plaid shirts, Bobby's jacket and a couple of Dean's band shirts.

Now that the children trusted the hunters, they had sort of adopted them into their flock. The Winchesters and Bobby were family now and their items of clothing provided an extra security blanket.

When everything was put into place the angels snuggled into their new nest with Ellie the elephant, Teddy and Dragon. It wasn't long before they were fast asleep, curled up like kittens in a fetal position. The angels were all cuddling and their wings were spread out and wrapped around each other.

It was warm.

It was safe.

It was home, for now.

Once back downstairs, Sam hopefully suggested that maybe if they couldn't send the kids back to the other angels, the angels would come and retrieve them themselves.

"Yeah, but if they were going to do that, why didn't they do it immediately rather than leaving three kids with strangers. I mean what are we? Goddamned babysitters?"

Bobby snorted, downing a third shot of whiskey and beginning to pour another.

"I don't think we exactly pull off the 'good with kids' vibe. There must be something stopping them from coming down here. Maybe they are busy?"

"Too busy to protect their family? Dean scoffed.

"Well I dunno do I?"

"This is truly ridiculous."

"Yep."

"Balls. What now?"

"Well, I'm gonna turn in for the night."

"Night."

All three dejected hunters went back to their rooms, Sam and Dean sinking into their twin beds with a groan.

"At this rate we're gonna have to look into pre-schools and day care centers!"

"Don't even joke about that Dean, we'll sort this."

Dean grumbled a sarcy response before stripping to his boxers and drawing up his covers. Sam followed suit, turning out the light before settling into a deep and dreamless sleep.

Or at least, it was dreamless until there was a sudden scream.

Sam rolled over, flinching away from the high pitched sound in his head until he realized that this wasn't a dream, he was awake.

Fumbling blindly he managed to turn on the night light, scrambling to his feet and shaking Dean awake.

His brother could sleep through a hurricane!

"Dean! DEAN! One of the angels is screaming, wake up!"

Dean slid out of bed groggily, grabbing his knife from under his pillow before running to the children's room and turning on the light.

Cas and Balthazar were sat bolt upright, their eyes wide with fear whilst Gabriel lay in the nest, wrestling with his sheets and thrashing around over the bed. The kid was deathly pale and his eyelids were fluttering as the boy slept.

"Gabe? Gabe! Wake up Gabriel, it's just a nightmare, c'mon kiddo!"

The acrid scent of urine filled the room but nobody commented, silently watching as Sam leant over the sobbing boy and shook him by the shoulders.

Gabriel woke with a jolt, immediacy trying to pull free from Sam's hold and jerking wildly.

"No! NO! LEMME GO! DON'T WANNA! NOOOO! STOP IT! LEMME ALONE!"

"Hey, hey, hey, Gabe it's me, Sam, Sammy. You're safe, shhh, don't cry Gabe. It's just me and Dean. Shhhhhh." Sam cuddled the middle angel close when the boy stopped struggling, allowing him to crawl up onto his lap and bury his face into Sam's bare chest. Snot, sweat and tears ran down his skin but Sam didn't comment, choosing instead to run his hands through Gabe's wings as he continued making soft shushing noises and insisted that Gabriel was safe.

"T-t-the – he – the b-bad man – he…" Gabriel was cut off by another shuddering sob and he whimpered softly, burying his face in the crook of Sam's neck and taking comfort from the soft brush of Sam's hair against his wet cheek.

"Were you dreaming about the man in the park?" Dean asked softly, sinking onto the bed next to his brother and wrapping an arm around Gabriel. The little boy nodded in response, leaning into Dean's touch and sniffling.

"He was arrested, Gabe, he can't hurt you anymore. I promise we'll look out for you."

"I wanna go home."

There was nothing for Dean to say other than "I know."

Once Gabriel had cried himself out, he lay lucid in Sam's arms, still resting on his body gently but no longer having the energy to cling on.

"Ok, lets get you cleaned up, and then we can get you back to bed, yeah?"

Gabriel nodded sleepily, allowing Dean to bathe him and wipe him clean before helping the boy into a fresh set of pajamas.

Sam set about taking the wet items out of the nest, filling the gap with the quilt from his bed.

He then laid himself down in the nest, curling up his lanky body so that he fitted somewhat comfortably.

Cas and Balth, who had been watching in horror at their brother's distress, curled up against his back becoming a big spoon – which was somewhat ironic, and when Gabriel returned he snuggled into Sam's chest. It wasn't an ideal set up but at least this way Gabriel would feel protective and if he woke up from another nightmare, Sam would be there to help him through it. Even Dean didn't comment on how chick flick the scene was as he flipped off the light and went back to his room.

Earth was no place for an angel and Dean was now more determined than ever to send the angels back to their safe haven.

...

Three more weeks had passed since Gabriel's nightmare and everything was going well. Well, everything other than getting the kids back home. There had been countless incantations, spells and rituals that had done nothing to help – although they had succeeded in making Bobby's lounge smell permanently of sage and rabbit blood.

Therefore they had gotten into a routine; breakfast, research, lunch, research and a trip to the park, dinner, research with the assistance of a beer – or five.

The angels had gone off of their nest in the bed – Gabriel kept tossing and turning too much resulting in multiple angels having a pile up on the floor when the pillow walls were knocked away.

Therefore Gabe often crawled into Dean's larger bed and slept with him, or occasionally Sam. Cas in turn would interchange between the two hunters leaving just Balthazar in the nest/bed.

Whereas Cas and Gabe seemed to have settled in playing at Bobby's and watching cartoons, the eldest angel was not happy. He spent his time watching over his brothers but he often had a distant look and he was very snappy. Whenever he was asked to do anything or about heaven, he would shut down and sulk for hours on end. He hated it here on earth, he hated having to eat, to drink and to sleep. These mundane tasks were a waste of time and Balthazar missed his friends back in Heaven. He was destined for great things; he should not be wasting his time watching Spongebob Squarepants!

On one occasion he had raided the fridge and helped himself to all of Bobby's beer to help ease his loneliness. Cas and Gabe didn't have time for him any more, they were too busy with the hunters. Nobody had offered to groom him in days and when he had asked Dean and Sam for a hug the other day, they had been too busy. The first time they were "busy doing research" and the second time he discovered that Snakes and Ladders was a four player game, so no he couldn't join in with the Winchesters and his two younger brothers.

It had been Sam who found the eldest angel passed out in a lake of spilt beer and eight empty bottles. When the angel had finally come round it had not been a pleasant experience – in the end Sam stripped him off and dumped the kid in the bath. The angel's projectile vomiting was like a scene from 'The Exorcist' and Balth couldn't aim in the toilet after the first bout of nausea. Not to mention that they had to leave the lights off due to the angel's splitting headache.

After that Balthazar had been grounded. A lock was put on the fridge and the angel wasn't allowed to watch TV, go to the park (he had to stay at home and research with Bobby) and he was banned from eating candy – although Gabriel did sneak him a bit. This made him in an even worse mood and he had even less contact with the Winchesters, sulking that he had been told off and about how life "isn't fair."

…SN…SN…SN…SN…SN…

When Dean woke up the next day he wasn't surprised to find wings wrapped around half of his torso and to be perfectly honest it didn't bother him as much as it should do. He peeled his eyes open and saw that the feathers were golden - it was Gabriel, the middle angel who was pressed up to his side.

The little guy was a real handful and calling him a trouble maker would be an understatement, but right now the kid looked so cute that all was forgotten and forgiven. Yes the little bugger had boobie trapped the bathroom with legos and yes Dean's foot was still paying the price, but Gabe looked so god damned cute that he couldn't find it within himself to care. His deep pink lips were open in a wide '0' and his long golden eyelashes were fluttering as the boy dreamed of flying. Nope, he couldn't be angry with Gabe…but Balth on the other hand…he was just an irritating brat at times.

Dean carefully ran his fingers through Gabriel's feathers and straightened out the loose and bent ones. Unlike Balthazar and Castiel, Gabe didn't take the best care of his wings - he was too busy running around and playing to care if his feathers became ruffled. Whereas Cas would spend hours at a time grooming, Gabe would be too busy plotting his latest prank.

Gabe gave a little snort when Dean reached his base feathers and peeled one eye open.

"Dean, m'sleeping."

"Not any more you aren't. If you're so tired you shouldn't have put up so much of a fuss at bath time last night."

"But I didn't want a bath."

"That doesn't mean that you had to make the shower head blast out cola."

"But cola tastes good."

"Yeah, and it is a bitch to get out of feathers. Poor Cas is gonna be sticky for weeks!"

Gabriel gave a little giggle before rolling out of bed to find his brothers. Cas was still fast asleep, curled up in the crook of Sam's arm, so Gabe decided to find Balth instead. However, his older brother was snoring softly in the bed/nest so Gabriel went to play with the toy cars Dean had bought instead.

...SN...SN...SN... SN...SN...

When Balthazar woke he found himself alone in his nest and he couldn't prevent the wave of sadness that washed over him. Angels were meant to sleep together in large nests to ensure that everyone was warm and safe. Inviting other angels into your nest is a way to express love, be it platonic, familial or romantic and Balthazar couldn't help but feel abandoned.

Neither of his brothers had stayed with him during the night for over a week now. Were they trying to tell him that they didn't love him any more?! Was this their way of replacing him? Had the Winchesters taken over his job? His role as the eldest angel and therefore as the protector of their new garrison?

The thought made the angel feel sick and the burning ache in his chest started to grow. Jealously was tearing into his grace and Balthazar decided that he would redouble his efforts at being the best older brother ever. Maybe he would help Gabe with one of his pranks and he could play with Cas and their teddies.

...SN...SN...SN... SN...SN...

Once Sam and Cas had woken up, Dean began to make a huge breakfast for everyone.

Meantime Cas began to play a game of naughts and crosses with Sam.

"Hey, can I play?" Balthazar asked with a wide smile.

It soon disappeared when Cas said no, the game was only for two people and he was playing with Sammy. That was the second time he had been excluded from games with his brothers.

Balthazar scowled and decided to play with Gabe instead, but the younger angel was busy hovering behind Dean and watching the older man make breakfast – "Can I lick the bowl?" "No Gabe, that's gross." "But Deeee!" "Fine, but you are doing the washing up afterwards."

The eldest angel gave up, wishing he could just butt in and ask for a hug. But everyone was busy and he didn't want to be annoying. But still, the ache in his grace from a lack of contact was really beginning to wear at him and he was feeling lightheaded.   
Soon it was announced that breakfast was ready and everyone dropped what they were doing in favor of food. There was pancakes, syrup, chocolate sauce and even crispy bacon. The angel's faces all lit up and they hurried over to the small dining table. Each child loaded pancakes onto their plates at record speed. The Winchesters couldn't help but chuckle at how cute the boys looked and Bobby, who had just sauntered in grumbling, rolled his eyes.

None of them would admit it but they would miss the little tykes when they finally found a way to send them back home.

When Dean, Bobby and Sam had filled their own plates they sat down at the table. Dean pretended to be irritated when Cas made grabby hands for him to lift the angel onto his lap, but it was all for show. Dean did have a tough-guy reputation as a matcho hunter to keep up after all.

Of course, everyone saw through the facade and Sam didn't even bother to put up a fight when Gabriel hopped up onto his legs and demanded to be hand-fed his pancakes as it made them "taste better."

Balthazar tried to bite back the hurt. Why weren't his brothers asking to sit on his lap? And it wasn't as if he could sit on Bobby's, the hunter would probably yell at him or something – he was still grumpy about the missing booze incident.

He scowled into his pancakes and stabbed at them moodily and with more force than was strictly necessary.

"Balth, what crawled up your ass and died?" Dean's tone was light and jokey but there was a hint of underlying concern.

"Nothing. I'm tired."

"You only just got up!"

Balthazar huffed in response, pushing back his chair with a loud scraping noise and storming into the bathroom.

"Hey, come back here right now, young man. Angel or not you cannot behave like that!"

"Why not? You don't yell at Gabe or Cas when they are naughty!"

"That's not the point. Now sit back down and eat your breakfast like your brothers."

"M'not hungry."

"I don't care! Come back here this instant!"

"No!"

Dean pushed his own chair back and stormed over to the bathroom. He picked the lock in mere seconds and grabbed Balth by the scruff of his neck.

"You will not talk back to me like that."

Balthazar wriggled frantically in Dean's grip but could do nothing as he was bent over the sofa. Dean pinned him down with one hand and with the other he delivered ten hard slaps to Balthazar's rear. The little boy yowled and cried out after the fourth lash. But Dean didn't stop. The kid needed to learn a lesson.

By the time he was done tears were streaming down Balth's cheeks and Dean couldn't help but feel bad.   
Cas, Gabe and Sam were staring at him in shock and Balthazar's eye were wide and glossy with betrayal.

"Go to your nest and don't come out until I tell you to."

Balthazar practically fled to the wardrobe – he didn't want to spend hours in the huge, cold and lonely bed - and he shut himself in just in time to hide his sobs. It wasn't fair. Dean had never spanked his brothers and they misbehaved all the time. Cas would always cry or throw tantrums when Dean left his side and it goes without saying that Gabe always irritated the Winchesters with his pranks.

Why was he the exception?

Balth cried into his arms, wishing now more than ever that he could go home. He started to pray after a while for his garrison to take him back, but there was no flutter of wings and no reassuring answer to his prayers on angle radio.

Clearly they didn't love him either.

After an hour Balthazar managed to fall asleep, listening to the sound of his brothers playing some sort of board game with their new family - without him.

...SN...SN...SN...SN...SN...

"Jeez, Dean, don't you think you were a bit harsh on the kid?"

'Yeah, probably, but at least he will have learnt his lesson. I will make it up to him later."

"Maybe we could go to the cinema or something, let him pick a film."

"Sounds good. Anyway, who fancies another game of Snakes n' Ladders?"

After two hours of playing board games the angel settled down to watch cartoons and Sam and Dean began to do some more research into heaven. Time began to fly by and lunch was a rushed affair of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Neither Winchester remembered that Balthazar was still holed up in the wardrobe.

...SN...SN...SN...SN...SN...

Two hours after being told to cool off in the wardrobe, Balthazar was wriggling uncomfortably. He was desperate for the toilet and his stomach was growling angrily. He'd only had a few mouthfuls of breakfast.

To make matters worse his grace was burning more than ever.

He hadn't been groomed since yesterday and hadn't been in close proximity with his brothers for hours. Usually he got his fill of physical contact overnight bit now that the other angels were sharing beds with the Winchesters, he wasn't even getting that.   
The only touch he had experience that day was when Dean had spanked him.

None of the angels has mentioned it, but they needed love and closeness to survive. That's part of the reason why Cas was so ill back in that alleyway.

In heaven love acted as food and water, hugs and wing-grooming replaced the need for nutrients. It was clear that on earth both were needed and he was only getting half of what he needed to survive.

Balthazar began to shake with need after another half an hour and before much longer he was shuddering. His bladder had long since given up on him and he was now huddled in a pool of his own urine. He gave up trying to calm down and began to bang on the door of the wardrobe.

He has to get out, he needed to be touched, groomed. He was desperately hungry and thirsty and most of all he needed the comfort of his brothers. Sweat was beading across his entire body and the little angel couldn't work out whether he was hot or cold. His grace burned within but his skin felt cool and clammy.

With another loud bang on the wardrobe Balthazar slumped backwards into his damp nest and allowed his eyes to fall shut.

...SN...SN...SN...SN...SN...

Sam was the first to hear the banging on the wardrobe and he quickly dropped the hunters' diaries that he was skimming through.

"Shit, Dean, we forgot to let Balth out!"

"Fuck, it's been hours!"

Both brothers scrambled to their feet, passing Cas and Gabe who were sharing a bottle of maple syrup and taking it in turns to squirt it into each other's mouths from a distance.

Dean was the first to reach the wardrobe, yanking open the door before exclaiming "son of a bitch!"

Sam looked in after him and immediately saw why Dean sounded so panicked.

The wardrobe stank of stale urine and Balthazar seemed to be unconscious. The little boy was covered in sweat and when he finally came to in Dean's arms; his eyes were glassy with fever.

"Dammit Balth, why didn't you tell us you felt sick?"

Balthazar moaned in response, writhing in Dean's grip for a moment before flopping down limply.

Sam rubbed the angel's back gently and watched as he fisted the fabric of Dean's shirt. Tears were rolling down the boy's face and he was burning up.

Dean held Balth as Sam helped the boy to wriggle out of his top. The kids' wings were fluttering helplessly and he was beginning to malt. Even the light brush of his top coming off caused a dozen feathers to fall out.

Balthazar whimpered softly, burying his face in Dean's chest.

"M'sorry, m'sorry. Didn't mean to be bad. Please just...please..."

"It's ok Balth, it's alright, I'm so sorry buddy, please don't cry. What do you need? Are you sick?"

"H-h-hug."

Dean scooped the angel into his arms and plopped him on his lap, cuddling him close and pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. Balthazar whimpered softly, leaning into the kiss and burying his face in Dean's chest.

"M'sorry, m'sorry. Didn't mean to be bad. Please just...please..."

"It's ok Balth, it's alright, I'm so sorry buddy, please don't cry. What do you need? Are you sick?"

"I don't feel good. My chest is funny and..."

Balthazar's speech was abruptly halted by another bolt of nausea and the child doubled over clutching his torso. His breathing was coming in harsh pants and his wings were fluttering wildly - his feathers were cascading to the ground in clumps.

"What do you need? Cas, Gabe, what's happening?!"

Cas looked pale and Gabriel extremely on edge.

"Boys? What is going on? I need the truth so that we can help." Sam spoke in a low voice, calm yet dangerous. His eyes were narrowed slightly in concern and he kept glancing at Dean as his older brother held up the frantic angel.

"I-It's my fault."

"What do you mean?"

"We l-left the nest for the last few n-nights."

"So?"

"Angels need to be c-close to each o- ...each other. We need l-love and hugs and we le-left him a-a-and it's my fault!" Gabriel wailed, his small amount of grace flaring up in distress. The glass of water on Sam's bedside table shattered.

"No, it's my fault. I sent him to the nest and ignored him. Just calm down Gabe, I don't need two sick angels on my hands. We'll sort this out. We can do love and hugs, I will allow myself one chick flick moment, yeah? C'mon, let's go to the sofa and have some snuggle time."

Gabe sniffed and nodded, reaching out for Sam to pick himself and Cas up. Dean took Balthazar and all five settled down on the three seater sofa. The angels curled up on the Winchester's laps and wrapped their arms and wings around each other whilst the hunters carded their hands through their feathers.

In next to no time all three angels were humming contently, even Balthazar had a smile on his face as he nuzzled against his baby brothers. Cas was giggling and purring softly as Sam tickled his and Balth's wings and Gabe was nestling into Dean's touch and munching through a family sized bag of Malteasers.

Even Bobby joined in after half an hour, calling the lot of them idjits and gruffly informing them that he wasn't cuddling, he was offering support in a highly manly way. He had even made everyone hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows.

That night Sam and Dean pushed their twin beds together and pulled all of the items in the angel's nest onto them. Then the dysfunctional family curled up amongst the pillows and blankets, each angel cuddling their soft toys and a hunter close. All five of them were fast asleep in moments and all was forgiven.

...

Three weeks later the hunters and the angels had just spent the day at the park. All five of them had eaten huge cones of ice-cream and were all perfectly content - Bobby had stayed at home grumbling something about not being a day-care service and that he had research to do, but they had fun anyway.

Gabe had been playing on the climbing frame, Cas was being guided down the curly slide by Dean and Balthazar was practically flying on the swings barking out orders for Sam to push him higher.

This had ended in a pileup with Balthazar crashing down on Sam and then Gabe joining in without a moment's hesitation. Luckily nothing was hurt apart from Sam's pride and they were all laughing their heads off by the time their trip was over.

That night everyone settled into the new nest that Bobby had set up for 'all of his boys.' It comprised of two double beds pressed against each other and piled up with items of everyone's clothes and multiple quilts and blankets. The eldest hunter had set it up for the Winchester and angel crew while they had been playing in the park.

Partly he did this out of boredom - the sending angels back to heaven thing was still a dead end and he was bored of fruitless searching, and part of it was because he wanted the boys to all stay and feel at home. Bobby hated to admit it but he had grown attached to the feathery rascals and their antics. Not to mention the fact that it was nice having Sam and Dean around again. They were the children that he'd never had, physically at least, and they were like sons to him. He would be devastated to see them leave again.   
Of course he knew that he was living in cloud cuckoo land. At some point a way to send the angels back would pop up and the Winchesters would go straight back on the road again, but for now he was happy living in denial and nesting. Shit! He was nesting! What the hell?! 

Even though he wasn't sleeping with the boys his clothes were part of the nest, which officially made him family in angel terms. And dammit, if anyone asked his eyes were bloody well not welling up at that thought.

...SN...SN...SN...SN...SN...

The next morning Dean carefully unwrapped Balthazar and Cas' limbs from around him and climbed out of the nest. And then he promptly banged his bead against the wall in frustration before nudging Sam awake.

"Deee- m'sleepin."

"We have a problem."

"Wha-?"

Dean didn't verbally respond, instead nodding towards the foot of the nest. When Sam sat up and looked down he saw exactly what Dean meant. There were two piles of fabric down the end of their bed...and they weren't towels or parts of the nest. They were moving. Not to mention the fact that one pile had a tuft of blond hair and the other jet black which stood out against the white silk it was wearing.

Damn.

"When the hell did they get there?"

"I don't know." Dean sighed deeply. "I need a coffee before I deal with this."

"Same here...it looks like we've unintentionally added two more to our pack." Sam sounded half irritated and half defeated. It was not a good combination.

"Five. Five angels. I am never going to complain about a hunt again! Anything is easier than childcare. How do nannies and daycare workers do it? I'd rather drink a gallon of Gabriel's glitter glue than do this for a living!" Sam chuffed a little at Dean's rant before heading to the door.

"I'll get the coffee, you wake up those two and find out who they are."

"Why do I have to do it?"

"Your the oldest."

"Bitch."

"Jerk." Dean huffed as Sam left the room and gave an exaggerated eye roll. Just his luck. Sam was so on bath duty tonight!

"Hello? Wake up, c'mon..." Dean gently nudged the closest angel, the one with blond hair in black robes, and waited for him to wake up. Which the kid did...with a jerk and gasp of fear. His eyes were wide as he looked up at Dean and his face turned into a pinched frown at the sight of a human. He looked around six years old but had a death glare that even Bobby would be proud of.

"Who are you? Stop touching me!" The little boy bit Dean with razor sharp teeth when the hunter reached out to comfort him and then he hissed and spat like a cat when Dean raised his hands in surrender. This in turn woke up the angel's sibling, who yawned and gazed around the room in confusion.

"Luci, where are we?" The dark-haired angel sounded petrified and he wrapped his wings around himself defensively.

"I dunno, Michael."

"You are on Earth."

"What?"

"Earth. We don't know why but angels keep falling and landing with us. Look, I'm Dean and the moose of a man downstairs is my brother, Sam. We aren't going to hurt you. Make yourself at home with the other angels and I will make us all some breakfast.

Michael nodded obediently and went to wake Cas, Gabe and Balthazar but Luci stayed still and continued to glare at Dean. His eyes were slitted and he was scowling petulantly.

"I still don't trust you."

"That's fine by me. Just play nice with the others." Luci nodded grimly and slumped down on the bed waiting for food. For some reason he was incredibly hungry. Earth sucked!

...SN...SN...SN...SN...SN...

Sam had only left the angels alone for five minutes, but judging by the state of the lounge it could have been five years.

The coffee table had been completely knocked over and there were shattered remnants of ceramic mugs all over the wooden floor. The sofa had been tipped on its side and all of Bobby's vases and photo frames had shattered. There were coffee stains on the floor and newspapers were scattered everywhere.

In the centre of all the mess was Michael and Luci, alongside a broken Lego model.

"I hate you, Michael! I hate you, I hate you, I HATE you!"

"I hate you more, Lucifer!"

"I'll kill you! You broke my dragon!"

"It sucked anyway!"

"Did not!"

"Please stop it! Your scaring Cassie." Gabriel's voice was shrill and it was clear that the little angel was fighting back tears. He looked terrified and his golden wings were flapping in agitation. Balthazar looked up from Cas, who was sobbing into his collar bone. Everyone in the garrison knew that Luci had a temper and he waited with baited breath for all hell to break loose.

It did.

"SHUT UP GABE!" Both Michael and Lucifer yelled at Gabriel and before Sam could do anything to stop it Lucifer had hit Gabe square in the jaw. The tiny angel went flying, all of his limbs flapping wildly for balance before he fell to the floor with a sickening thud. His head cracked down on the overturned coffee table and he landed on the pile of broken mugs.

In an instant everything went silent. Michael and Lucifer stopped fighting, Cas stopped crying and Balthazar stopped trying to comfort his baby brother. Even Sam was silent for a moment as he tried to wrap his head around what had just happened.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Gabriel screamed at the top of his lungs as soon as the initial shock of falling had faded. Tears had begun streaming down his face and he looked down at his bloody hands in horror. There were shards of ceramic ingrained into them and the area was already red and puffy.

"YOU TWO, GET OUT OF MY SIGHT NOW BEFORE I DO SOMETHING WE ALL REGRET!" Sam bellowed at the top of his voice. The two new angels scurried off with ashen faces and broke into a run when Dean appeared to find out what the hell was going on.

Ten minutes later Dean was finally plucking out the last of the mug from Gabriel's skin and in no time at all he had bandaged the wounds up. Gabriel was still sniffling quietly and Cas was openly sobbing on his lap. Even Balthazar was pale, but he was putting on a brave face and rocking Gabe gently whilst straightening his sibling's feathers.

After yet more mugs of hot chocolate with stirred in maple syrup everyone had finally calmed down and Michael and Lucifer had been dealt with. Both of them were banned from the nest that night...they would take the couch, they weren't allowed honey or maple syrup and they had to do the washing and drying up for the rest of the week. If they were still there by the end of the week.

...

Dean clambered onto the sofa with Sam and Bobby, huffing irritably. He was tired. Bone tired. No matter how much he had previously wished for an apple pie life and kids, now he realised that he truly was a born and bred hunter. He was not cut out for this!

He had just closed his eyes after an exhausting day and was about to drop off when there was yet another blinding flash of white light.

Please tell me this isn't another damned baby angel, five is more than enough! Please!

But that was not the case. Standing in the middle of the bedroom, wielding a sword, was a fully grown angel in a trench coat. He had dark messy hair, plump lips and the most beautiful deep blue eyes that Dean had ever seen – not that he had noticed that, of course. 

Beside him was a shorter man, also carrying a blade. This angel had long dark blonde hair and a prominent chin. He was wearing a worn green jacket and ripped jeans. There was an air of cheekiness about him and he had a lollipop stick sticking out the corner of his mouth, which he was twizzling around idly with his tongue.

A third angel was slim and wielding a flaming dagger. He had dark hair, almost black, and deep brown eyes to match. There was no doubt that he was handsome, yet power seemed to emanate from him and he gave off an air of aloofness.

The tallest and last of the four angels was wearing a dark suit and had a distinct air of 'Englishness' about him. He had neatly combed blonde hair and was the first to speak. His voice had a drawling quality and came with a thick with a British accent.

"Sam, Dean, Bobby. It is good to see you again."

"Again, hey? Who the hell are you? Put that sword down now or I swear to god -"

The man snorted with laughter.

"God isn't listening, Dean. Besides, we mean you no harm." A glass of red wine appeared in his hand and the angel took a long, drawn out swig. He looked half amused by Dean's edginess, and half quizzical.

"Father is in heaven, this is all part of his plan." The aloof, dark haired angel spat. The blond just laughed coldly in response. "Believe what you wish, Mikey. If it makes you feel better-."

"Do you not recognise us?" The man in the trench coat spoke up, he sounded vaguely hurt and his head cocked to the side in confusion.

"What do you mean recognise you? I've never seen you before in my life."

"Yes you have, Dean." The man pulled out a tiny toy elephant from his pocket. It was worn and clearly well loved. The left ear was ripped so badly that stuffing was visible and the once grey fur was now missing in patches and brown with dirt.

Dean had seen that elephant before…it was the same as Cas', just older. Much older.

There was a small tug on Dean's shirt and Dean looked down, surprised to see that Cas had toddled over to him. His piercing blue eyes looked deep into Dean's green ones and suddenly it clicked.

"Castiel, Balthazar, Michael, Gabriel? But where's Lucifer?"

All nine angels looked up and at the mention of their names, the elder ones stepping forwards and embracing Dean, Sam and then Bobby. The adult Gabriel materialised a giant rainbow lollipop and handed it to his younger self.

"Lucifer is tucked away in his cage. He rebelled against God's orders." Gabriel finally answered Dean's question. Dean was not at all surprised, even little Lucifer was a right devil to look after, but he couldn't help but feel sorry for the small boy beside him who was quivering with fear and whining that he hasn't done anything wrong. He looked terrified, so terrified that Sam picked him up and cuddled him.

"The cage? You mean Luci is the devil, as an adult?"

Michael ruffled his feathers angrily and nodded sharply. "He disobeyed Father, he had to be punished."

Dean, sensing a fight, changed the topic quickly.

"You're adults? What happened? How is this even possible? Why are there two of each of you? Is this some freaky-ass Doctor Who thing? … WAIT! Is Doctor Who real, because that really would be awesome! British shows rock and David Tennant kicks ass!"

"I do not understand that reference, but I can explain what happened. Gabriel here was pulling one of his infamous pranks and Balthazar and myself were caught in the crossfire. As were Lucifer and Michael when Gabriel repeated the pagan spell again."

Sam and Dean exchanged looks.

Why did that not surprise them *insert sarcasm here.

"So what, these past few months have just been some friggin cosmic joke?!"

Gabriel mumbled something, raising his hands in a motion of surrender.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know that the spell would cause us to be kids. All I wanted was to get back to Earth to bring Cassie here to a den of iniquity. I hardly realized that we would be miniaturised as a side effect. At least we got down here."

"No we didn't, our younger duplicates did."

"What?" Bobby had heard it all, or at least he thought he had, but this took the biscuit!

"It was just a bit of fun, do none of you guys know how to take a joke?"

"It was not amusing Gabriel, our vessels were compromised and you made Dean and Sam's lives difficult. It would have been easier to pass through Heaven's gate like we did this time. I don't get why we didn't do that the first time round, or during your second attempt."

"Where's the fun in that?!" Gabriel snarled.

"Uh, we didn't mind." Sam stuttered, he looked slightly pale and was geeking out – angels! Actual adult angels were here! Dean was wrong! He was not a girl for praying.

"But why did it take so long for you to come and sort this out?"

"My brothers here assumed that the spell had failed when we were not transported. It was only when Sam prayed for help returning our younger selves yesterday that we realized what had happened."

"You were praying Sam? You are such a girl." Yep, Dean bought the argument up again...how many times had they been through this on hunts?

"How? We know angels exist, so why not? Besides, if I hadn't, none of this could have been sorted out."

"True...smartsss. So, what now?"

"Well, I for one am ready to drink Heaven's entire liquor store." Balthazar drawled…some things never change.

"And I was planning on visiting M&M world, seya boys and cheers for looking after us. I'll pop by for a hug later, or a snog from Moose here, that girly hair is a real turn on! Bye Sammich, Bobby, Dean and mini-me!" Gabriel disappeared with a flash and a wink, causing the rest of the room to roll their eyes. Even as an adult Gabriel never stayed in one place for long. Sam looked even paler.

"What about you, Cas." Dean asked, trying to avoid staring into the angel's blue eyes.

"I shall return our younger selves to the garrison."

"What will happen to them?"

"They will grow to be warriors of heaven; their existence will merge with our own. But do not worry; we shall never forget you and what you have done for us."

"Will you ever come back? Y'know, finally go and see that den of iniquity?"

"I do wish to spend time observing humanity yes, but do not see the need for intercourse with ladies of the street. I would prefer to simply observe day to day activities, humans are such complex begins and I would love to gain a deeper insight into ape-like behaviors."

"Um, I could, y'know, show you round if you like."

"I would like that very much, Dean."

Balthazar coughed pointedly and scooped up baby Cas and Gabe. Michael picked up little Michael, Balthazar and Luci.

"Thank you, for hairless apes you have been very hospitable."

"Anytime, Balth."

Balthazar and Michael smiled, disappearing into thin air leaving Bobby, Sam, Castiel and Dean behind.

"So, how about we go for a burger? You a fan of beef and bacon now, I take it you are over the honey and maple syrup thing now?"

"I do not know, but I would like to find out."

Dean nodded, grabbing his leather jacket and leading Cas to the local diner. Yes it was weird that the Cas he knew for over a month was a baby, but this Castiel was a fully grown angel – as long as Dean thought of them separately, he had no internal conflict about leading Cas into 'iniquity'.

Bobby and Sam exchanged a look and a pointed eyebrow raise once the other two had left.

"Beer?"

"Hell yes. And I so need a vacation – no more children…ever!"

The End


End file.
